Deck 13: Do We Survive Death

Question 1

The belief that those who were great and powerful in this life will also be celebrated in the afterlife is consistent with the ______ theme.

A) compensation
B) celebration
C) conservation
D) final exam

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The lesson of the ancient Gilgamesh myth is that:

A) love will ultimately triumph over death
B) immortality can be achieved by heroic deeds
C) immortality can be achieved through pure faith
D) no human will ever escape death.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The lesson of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is that:

A) the dead cannot come back to life
B) hell is a real place of torment
C) heaven is like an eternal summer
D) all dead souls will return in another life.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The Jewish survival belief that "Yahweh is the god of life-and this life is all that we have" is associated with the:

A) Sadducees
B) Pharisees
C) Essenes
D) early Christians.

Question 5

The Jewish survival belief that "there is a spiritual rather than a physical afterlife in which the individual soul contemplates God" is associated with the:

A) Sadducees
B) Pharisees
C) Essenes
D) early Christians.

Question 6

Which of the following statements reflects the Jewish survival belief that was closest to what would become the Christian interpretation?

A) The faithful among the dead will arise to participate in a new and improved society.
B) There is a spiritual rather than a physical afterlife in which the soul contemplates death.
C) Yahweh is the god of life-and this one life on earth is all that we have.
D) Yahweh will punish those who have disobeyed His commandments in a never-ending pit of despair.

Question 7

Which is NOT true of the changes in the writing and thinking about hell?

A) The writings on the types of torments found in hell have changed with eras in history.
B) In the baroque era writings about hell were considered entertaining.
C) Protestant sects have emphasized the "sulfur and brimstone" approach to hell.
D) The Jesuits emphasized isolation and eternal loneliness in hell.

Question 8

Which religion is most closely associated with a Book of Deeds which will be consulted at the time of judgment to determine whether one goes to paradise or torment?

A) Judaism
B) Christianity
C) Islam
D) Native American religion.

Question 9

Heaven and hell are both real places, according to ______ respondents to a recent Fox News survey.

A) one person in ten
B) one person in five
C) one person in three
D) more than two out of three.

Question 10

Another word for "ghost" is:

A) appellation
B) apparition
C) necromancer
D) necromition.

Question 11

The ______ Ghost Dance was intended to ______.

A) medieval; ward off the plague
B) medieval; ward off witches
C) Roman; unite a person with a dead lover
D) Native American; allow Native Americans to survive conquest by whites.

Question 12

A psychopomp is a:

A) spiritual being sent to escort the soul of the dying person to the next life
B) person who claims the ability to receive communications from the dead
C) person who is born at the same time that another person dies
D) none of the above.

Question 13

Which of the following was NOT found by Osis and his colleagues in their studies of "deathbed escorts"?

A) Some dying patients were observed to be interacting with a visitor or apparition that others could not see.
B) The visitations always seemed to be welcomed by the patients.
C) Occasionally physicians or nurses reported having actually witnessed events related to a deathbed escort visitation.
D) Deathbed visions had similar features in India and the United States.

Question 14

"Bridey Murphy" is a famous case of:

A) past life regression proven to be true
B) past life regression proven to be false
C) a ghost visitation
D) a deathbed escort.

Question 15

Ian Stevenson's typical "case suggestive of reincarnation" starts when the person who claims to be reincarnated is around the age of ______ years old.

A) 2 to 4
B) 8 to 12
C) 15 to 20
D) 20 to 30

Question 16

In his search for evidence on the reincarnation question, Stevenson has recently published a set of cases in which:

A) photographs of a child mysteriously show the image of a person who might possibly be reincarnated in that child
B) a dying person vows that he or she will be reincarnated in a child born at a particular time and place
C) there is a close match between the fatal wounds suffered by a deceased person and marks found on a child at birth
D) none of the above.

Question 17

The primary near death experience (NDE), as described by Moody, typically includes some or all of the following components EXCEPT a sensation of:

A) returning to childhood
B) going on a journey
C) rising or lifting
D) encountering a turning point.

Question 18

The autoscopic experience refers to:

A) discovering that one has had a previous life
B) hearing the voice of a deceased person
C) an out-of-the-body experience
D) a drug-induced hallucination in which one communicates with the spirit of a deceased person.

Question 19

Which of the following most closely matches Moody's own conclusions about near-death experiences (NDEs)?

A) NDEs provide scientific evidence of an afterlife.
B) NDEs cannot provide scientific evidence of an afterlife.
C) NDEs do not offer adequate scientific evidence of an afterlife but could with only slight modifications.
D) Moody refused to comment on the need for proof of an afterlife.

Question 20

Which of the following are commonly reported by people who have had near-death experiences?

A) Reduced fear of dying and death
B) Greater appreciation of daily life
C) Heightened sense of spirituality
D) All of the above

Question 21

Cardiologist Michael B. Sabom's NDE study is of special interest because he and his colleagues:

A) experimentally induced NDEs on the operating table
B) related NDEs with types of brain activity
C) compared NDE reports with actual events in the operating room
D) all of the above.

Question 22

Cardiologist Michael Sabom found that near-death experiences showed:

A) a relationship to the cause of the crisis in that cardiac arrest prompted more NDEs than other emergencies
B) a relationship with gender in that women have more NDEs than men
C) a relationship with age in that younger adults had more NDEs than older adults
D) no relationship to age, gender, socioeconomic status, or cause of the crisis.

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT consistent with the research findings from a study of cardiac arrest patients in the Netherlands?

A) The near-death experiences were similar to those found by Moody and Ring.
B) The near-death experiences were life-changing and became more influential over time.
C) The researchers were impressed with the fact that some clear and vivid memories were reported by people who had had a flat EEG.
D) Only a few patients were unable to report any memories.

Question 24

Which of the following statements is NOT consistent with the findings of Glen Gabbard and Stuart Twemlow?

A) NDEs are found mostly in people with symptoms of mental disease.
B) NDEs are not related to level of education.
C) NDEs are not related to previous interest in mystic phenomena.
D) NDEs are clearly different from dreams.

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT consistent with reports of near-death experiences?

A) Some survivors return with nightmarish experiences.
B) Many people who report NDEs had not come close to death.
C) Almost all people who have had close encounters with death have also had NDEs.
D) People who were in severe pain were more likely to have an out-of-the-body experience.

Question 26

Studies conducted by psychiatrist Russell Noyes, Jr. and his colleagues have found which of the following major characteristics in experiences reported by people who survived a variety of life-threatening crises?

A) Hyperalertness
B) Depersonalization
C) Mystical experiences
D) All of the above

Question 27

In the studies by Noyes and his colleagues, the dimension in which one has a feeling that thoughts are either more vivid or more dull, and either more speeded up or more blurred, is called ______.

A) depersonalization
B) hyperalertness
C) mystical
D) psychotic.

Question 28

Reports of near-death experiences and G-LOC have the sensation of ______ in common.

A) tunnel vision with bright lights
B) out-of-body experience
C) euphoria and dissociation
D) all of the above.

Question 29

Which of the following statements about the current status of cloning research is NOT accurate?

A) Cloning and "twinning" achieve their results in different ways.
B) Cloning of tadpoles and sheep have a high rate of success.
C) Most cloning research is directed toward improving crops or fixing life-threatening genetic conditions.
D) Cloned creatures now include tadpoles, sheep, and monkeys.

Question 30

Individuals representing the "New Age" movement are more inclined to believe that:

A) tragic death differs from normal death
B) death can be untimely
C) there is no death
D) there is only death of the physical body.

Question 31

Jeremy Bentham wanted his skeleton and head preserved in a box so that he could be present at important meetings after he had died.

Question 32

Orpheus won his wife from Hades with his music, but lost her again before reaching safety.

Question 33

Most people in most societies believed that the dead survived and continued their interest in the living.

Question 34

The word "Islam" is usually translated as submission.

Question 35

The Qur'an states that virtuous males will receive 72 virgins in heaven.

Question 36

The Qur'an has a great deal to say about the delights for men in heaven but little to say about women.

Question 37

Surveys show that the number of Americans who believe in an afterlife has been increasing since the 1980s.

Question 38

Studies have found that there is an increasing number of people who believe in afterlife, even among those who say they have no religious preference.

Question 39

Today, most people who believe in an afterlife envision it as a positive experience.

Question 40

A 1999 Gallup poll found that very few Americans thought that a good person could get into heaven without a belief in God.

Question 41

The story about Mr. Splitfoot has been officially closed since Margaret Fox Kane announced that it was all a fraud.

Question 42

Raymond Moody, Jr., set out to provide evidence that would prove the existence of life after death in his book on near-death experiences.

Question 43

Sabom, a cardiologist, identified six NDE survivors who recalled one or more specific details that could not have been obtained through guesswork or prior knowledge of CPR.

Question 44

The research study on resuscitated patients, conducted in the Netherlands, involved 344 patients with near-death experiences.

Question 45

The problem provided strong evidence against the reality of near-death experiences.

Question 46

The psychic phenomenon of automatic writing is generally accomplished by men.

Question 47

Wealthy individuals who are persuaded to pay for buildings by the promise of having their names placed on those buildings forever represent one type of symbolic immortality.

Question 48

The idea that people who die a heroic death will find an eternal reward has been a motif in many cultures.

Question 49

What is the definition of the terms

-Autoscopic experience

Question 50

What is the definition of the terms

-Channeler

Question 51

What is the definition of the terms

-Depersonalization

Question 52

What is the definition of the terms

-Endorphins

Question 53

What is the definition of the terms

-G-LOC

Question 54

What is the definition of the terms

-Hezbollah

Question 55

What is the definition of the terms

-Hyperalertness

Question 56

What is the definition of the terms

-Immortality

Question 57

What is the definition of the terms

-Jahannam

Question 58

What is the definition of the terms

-Jihad

Question 59

What is the definition of the terms

-Medium

Question 60

What is the definition of the terms

-Mystical experiences

Question 61

What is the definition of the terms

-Near-death experience (NDE)

Question 62

What is the definition of the terms

-Necromancer

Question 63

What is the definition of the terms

-Pluralistic death

Question 64

What is the definition of the terms

-Psychopomp

Question 65

What is the definition of the terms

-Reincarnation

Question 66

What is the definition of the terms

-Séance

Question 67

What is the definition of the terms

-Yahweh

Question 68

What is the definition of the terms

-Zoroastrianism

Question 69

List four key points made by Kastenbaum regarding themes in beliefs about the afterlife.

Question 70

Describe the truth about two mistaken assumptions about Islamic views of heaven that became popular in the U.S. press following the 9/11 attacks.

Question 71

Describe any six of the common characteristics of near-death experiences as found by Moody, Ring, Sabom, the Netherlands study, and Parnia and Fenwick.

Question 72

Summarize the four points made by Gabbard and Twemlow against alternative explanations of near-death experiences.

Question 73

Define the three terms used by Noyes for the common dimensions reported by people who have survived life-threatening crises: mystical, depersonalization, and hyperalertness.

Question 74

Summarize the similarities pointed out by Kastenbaum in the views of the afterlife expressed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Question 75

Explain the role of the Ghost Dance in the slaughter of Native Americans at Wounded Knee.

Question 76

Summarize the evidence favoring near-death experiences as proof of survival after death, and the evidence against near-death experiences as proof of survival. Based on what you read in the text, what is your opinion on this issue? Give reasons to support your opinion.

Question 77

Explain what the G-LOC experience is and what it has in common with near-death experiences. Do you think this strengthens or weakens the case for NDEs as proof of an afterlife? Give reasons for your opinion.

Question 78

Summarize the questions Kastenbaum raises regarding cloning as a form of assisted immortality.